Chapter 1: Lost Apprentices and Squeaky Beasts

Our heroes returned to the Dawnforge Manor, to once again find the place ransacked and looted. Worse, Kerowyn's apprentice and the fey stolen child Lilah were no where to be found. Immediately they set off on the trail, Kerowyn Tala summoning a pack of wolves to lead the hunt. They followed the trail South, entering the Margreve as darkness fell. Eventually, they had to give up and make camp, but were quickly set upon by a pack of ghouls waiting in ambush. They defeated the foul undead, and waited for the morning light to reveal the trail.

Come the morning, they set out, coming upon a clan of Pixies led by Milmilia the Pixie Queen. The Pixies were being set upon by more ghouls, but the party made short work of them. Beedo personally rescued the Queen's son, Cedpar, and began the intricate rituals involved in converting the young Pixie to Pelor. Namely, he stuffed him in a backpack and sang songs at him. Mamillia told them of the Cave of Whispers, and mentioned that she might have seen two humans matching Lilah and Gavin's description being dragged inside. The heroes wasted no time charging in, finding a Ghoul named Lieutenant Boardshock standing behind a barricade. They smashed through, but stumbled into a Teleportation Circle and were whisked off to the nonsensical dungeon of the mad Beholder Gnothic Yrril.

Thus began a bizarre series of tests, navigating trapped hallways with animated suits of armor, an enormous squeaky yellow duck monster, an imprisoned elf named Elleris, and her former party member, now a corrupted demon named Steve. The heroes navigated the riddles and puzzles, coming face to face with a monstrous mechanical dragon. Dispatching the clockwork beast, they at last confronted the mysterious Gnothic Yrril. The beholder congratulated them on completing their dungeon, and welcomed them to return any time for a new challenge.

The heroes were teleported back to the Cave of Whispers, resuming the battle with Captain Thouslous and her ghoulish compatriots. A hooded and cowled woman slits Gavin's throat before teleporting away, but quick thinking and spell work saved the young apprentice's life. Dispatching the last of the ghouls, they discovered a note claiming that the Necromancer Mallus Radita would be displeased by the change of plans. The heroes returned victorious to Mamillia, who wrapped the unconscious Gavin in healing vines to restore him. The heroes slept in peace within the Pixie's glen, before eventually returning home to the Fortress of Dawn. only stopping for a brief shopping trip within Parabor. Arriving at the manor, they found it once again ransacked and in ruins. Worse, the vault had been breached, meaning that the location of the Eye of Death had been discovered.